Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Director Sells $845,670.96 in Stock

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) Director Rita J. Heise sold 10,888 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $77.67, for a total transaction of $845,670.96. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 20,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,553,400. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Fastenal Price Performance

FAST traded down $0.16 on Thursday, reaching $78.18. The company had a trading volume of 4,002,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,333,780. The company has a fifty day moving average of $71.53 and a 200-day moving average of $68.11. The company has a market capitalization of $44.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.98, a PEG ratio of 4.48 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a current ratio of 4.40, a quick ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03. Fastenal has a one year low of $58.04 and a one year high of $79.04.

Fastenal (NASDAQ:FAST) last announced its earnings results on Friday, October 11th. The company reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.51 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.90 billion. Fastenal had a net margin of 15.44% and a return on equity of 33.30%. Fastenal’s revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Fastenal will post 2.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Fastenal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Investors of record on Friday, October 25th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 25th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.00%. Fastenal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fastenal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FAST. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,594,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $122,972,000 after acquiring an additional 60,689 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 8.7% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 15,439 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after acquiring an additional 1,240 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 6.9% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 108,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,387,000 after acquiring an additional 7,013 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 57.9% in the 1st quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 7,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $571,000 after acquiring an additional 2,712 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama lifted its holdings in Fastenal by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 126,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,743,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. 81.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Fastenal from $74.00 to $65.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $67.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Fastenal in a report on Monday, October 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $85.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stephens increased their target price on shares of Fastenal from $56.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.33.

About Fastenal

Fastenal Company, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the wholesale distribution of industrial and construction supplies in the United States, Canada, Mexico, North America, and internationally. It offers fasteners, and related industrial and construction supplies under the Fastenal name. The company’s fastener products include threaded fasteners, bolts, nuts, screws, studs, and related washers that are used in manufactured products and construction projects, as well as in the maintenance and repair of machines.